Client Question: Seems the nonfat plain yogurt has too many carbs and sugar, so I’m guessing that is why I should get the regular yogurt….is this correct?

Answer:

There are 3 major factors that come into play here:

1. Processed vs Raw
2. Fat vs low/no fat
3. Food vs food products

Processed vs. Raw
While milk sugars naturally exist in dairy, oftentimes additional sugar (or artificial sweeteners) is placed into the product to provide flavor that was lost due to removal of fat. Throw in the process of pasteurization and homogenization, and you end up purchasing the equivalent of a sugary ‘non-food.’

How is processed yogurt a ‘non-food?’ All of the good that exists in dairy (ex. digestive enzymes, ‘good’ bacteria . . . and yes, even the fat) gets destroyed/denatured/altered in the pasteurization process, and your digestive system has no idea what to do with it; nor can it digest it as well.

This is why, if you were to have yogurt, best is RAW, straight from the farm, from a cow/goat that is humanely raised on a diet that nature intended.

Fat vs Low/No Fat
The LOW FAT directives that all of us have been exposed to for years have been shown to be a fallacy. That said, you as an individual have your own needs for fat which may be more than or less than (or the same as!) somebody else’s. The way you adjust is by choosing foods that have more or less fat in them naturally. (ex. eating poultry vs. red meat; eating red meat vs eating liver; eating broccoli and using more (or less) real butter.)

Food vs Food Products

If you find yourself getting confused (which can easily happen b/c the entire world is awash in the products of a food industry), just step away from the counter (or shopping aisle) and ask yourself: “What food was available to eat 10000 years ago, well before there were factories, corporations, technology, etc?”

The answer you come to is seasonal fruits and vegetables which, of course, were determined by where in the world you lived; meat sources that were common to your location (land, sea, lake . . . ); leaves/grasses; nuts; berries; FRESH (NOT tap!) water.

If you’re reading the side of a box/can/bottle/bag of ‘food,’ and the label is telling you that you’re holding a healthy source of food (i.e. that it’s low fat, high in fiber, loaded with Omega-3 fatty acids and DHA), it’s likely NOT real food — it’s a food PRODUCT.

REAL food doesn’t require another human to label it/to create it — mother nature has been doing it for years . . . and much better than we could ever try to reproduce on our own.

Make sense?

So, getting back to the yogurt question: If it’s not raw, straight from a healthy healthy cow or goat then, frankly, you’re better off without it.  (And, technically, you don’t need it either.)  The earliest phases of ‘detoxification’ suggest completely cutting dairy out of your diet anyway, as a means to learn your body’s tolerance (or lack of tolerance) to it. Turn to other food sources (berries, vegetables, fruits, meats, nuts, etc.) for your sustenance (and calcium, if that’s what you’re concerned about) — you might even discover that you look and feel just fine without the yogurt!

Hope this helps!

P.S. If you want help determining your specific nutritional needs, contact me about my metabolic typing services. I’d be happy to help!